Former Kirtland man guilty of tax crimes after lying about sick wife

A former Kirtland resident pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to two counts of filing false tax returns.

John C. Hartman, 60, lied to friends to solicit money from them, including to pay medical bills for an ill spouse who was not actually sick, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Hartman also told friends he was going to invest the money in various ways, but never did so. He then omitted this income from his 2005 and 2006 tax returns, Dettelbach said.

The unreported income from the fraud was $230,000 in 2005 and $136,500 in 2006. The tax loss for 2005 and 2006 was $65,797 and $17,963, respectively, according to court records.